Voldemort's Laugh
by TriDogMom
Summary: The most horrifying thing is Voldemort's laugh at your Christmas Feast. After his death.


Hermione opened her front door and smiled at her friends as the cold December air rushed in. This year she and Draco were hosting Friendmas. She had started the tradition of getting together as friends to celebrate Christmas the year after the war, and even now, seventeen years later, they were still gathering.

In the beginning it had just been her, Harry, and Ron. She had recovered her parents' memories and was planning to spend Christmas in Australia with them. Not wanting to miss out on opening presents together, she had suggested they get together the Saturday before Christmas. It was a little awkward because she and Ron had ended their relationship the night before she returned to Hogwarts to finish her education and they hadn't seen or communicated with each other since. By the end of the night, and one empty bottle of firewhisky later, the three of them were as close as ever.

Over the years, the trio had brought their current partners. Ginny had been with Harry from the second year. In the third year, George and Angelina joined them, fresh off their honeymoon. In year five Hermione brought Draco Malfoy, much to the shock of everyone else. By year six, Draco was her husband and had invited his best friends and longtime couple Theo and Blaise Zabini. The last member of their group joined in year seven when Ron brought his heavily pregnant girlfriend Pansy Parkinson.

Year seven had been dubbed 'fat Christmas' due to the fact that all the women were pregnant that year. Within four months, all of them had given birth. Hermione felt bad for McGonagall who was set to receive a Potter, two Weasleys, and a Malfoy in next year's Hogwarts class. She made a mental note to write the headmistress and warn her.

What had started as three people had grown to twenty people after a few years if you included all the children. Hermione and Draco had two, Scorpius and Lyra, aged ten and eight. Harry and Ginny had three, James, Albus, and Lily, aged eleven, ten, and seven. Ron and Pansy had three girls, Rose, Tulip, and Dehlia, aged ten, seven, and six. George and Angelina had two. Fred II also known as Deuce, and Roxanne, aged eleven and ten.

After everyone finished removing their winter wear, Hermione turned to the group. "I thought we would try something different this year." She said. "I thought it would be fun to have the kids eat in one room and the adults in the other."

"Thank Merlin. Now I can tell you all that joke Lee told me." George said with a smile on his face.

"I want to hear the joke dad." Deuce hollered. Hermione loved the kid, but wished he knew what 'use your inside voice' meant.

"Kids, your table is in the small dining room. Why don't you head there now? Scorpius and Lyra are already waiting for you." Hermione stepped out of the way, gesturing as the children took off towards the designated room.

Even though she thought it was ridiculous, she and Draco lived in Malfoy Manor. The house was too big in her opinion, but Draco was adamant that Malfoy's were raised in the ancestral home. Hermione had refused until Narcissa and Lucius moved out. She was able to forgive them and enjoyed their company, but she didn't want to live with them.

The door to the small dining room shut and silence filled the entryway. "That is the sound of heaven." Ginny said. "James and Albus have been arguing all day."

"Hermione, where is Draco?" Theo asked as he handed his jacket to a house elf.

"He said the wine I selected for tonight wasn't nice enough so he is down in the cellar getting more." Hermione said, shrugging.

Making their way into the main dining room, Draco came up the stairs from the cellar. They enjoyed a traditional Christmas Feast and spent the evening telling the same old stories they had shared hundreds of times before. Warmth filled Hermione as she looked around at the people she considered her family. Even Pansy who had taken some getting used to, but now was as close to her as Ginny.

The laughter from George's joke had just died when a sound drifted in from the hallway that caused all ten of them to reach for their wands. Echoing off the halls of Malfoy Manor was the sound of Lord Voldemort's cold laugh. Something none of them had heard for seventeen and a half years. It was quickly followed by the psychotic cackle of Bellatrix.

"But they're dead." Hermione heard someone whisper, but wasn't sure who. Meeting Harry's eye, she jumped up from her chair. The group moved as one towards the doorway as the maniacal laughter came closer to their door.

"Alright everyone, follow me." Harry said as he crept towards the door. Of course Harry would want to lead the group. The sound seemed to be moving away from the small dining room towards them and Hermione could only hope that they hadn't found the children.

"Hermione," Draco grasped her hand. "Please stay behind. I can't stand it if something happens to you."

"Draco, you know I can't do that. I have to protect our children." She said.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The rest of the people in the room were having similar conversations. Voldemort's laughter rang out closer than ever. It sounded as if he was right outside the still open dining room door. Harry tightened the grip on his wand before jumping out of the room and throwing four stunners in a row. The screams of the children filled the hallway.

"Oh fuck!" He yelled as he looked down at the floor.

Rushing out of the room, Hermione gasped seeing Scorpius and Rose stunned and laying on the ground. The other children were standing around screaming and yelling.

"Uncle Harry! You killed my sister!" Tulip yelled, tears were running down her face.

"Dad, you killed Scorp. Why did you kill Scorp?" Albus wailed distraught, falling to his knees next to his favourite cousin.

"SHUT UP!" Ginny yelled, startling all children into silence. "Where are Voldemort and Bellatrix?"

Hermione scanned the hallway but saw nothing out of place besides the two children still stunned on the floor. She hated having her back to the hallway behind them but wanted to keep her children in sight.

"Who?" Lyra asked.

"Lyra," Draco said to his daughter. "There were two people in the hall, a man and a woman. We heard them laughing. Where are they?"

"That was Scorp and Rose, Uncle Draco." James said. "Are they going to be okay?"

"They won't be hurt by the stunners. But I might kill them when they explain themselves." Ron growled.

Reviving the two on the floor, Harry sat them up and had them and explain just what in the hell they were thinking.

Scorpius looked confused but answered. "I found a memory of my dad's in his study. It was of an ugly man and a woman with hair like my mum's laughing and snogging in the hallway. Right here by the dining room."

"Scorpius asked if we wanted to see it, but everyone else was too scared. But I wasn't." Rose puffed her chest out, oozing pride and bravery. If that girl wasn't in Gryffindor, Hermioine would kick a house elf. "Since no one else wanted to see it, Scorpius and I decided to act it out for everyone."

"Are you telling me you were kissing Malfoy, Rose?" Ron asked his daughter, anger seething in his tone.

"Ronald." Hermione snapped at him. "That isn't the thing to focus on."

"Oh right. Sorry." Ron said as he scratched the back of his head. "But it is still distressing."

"Why is everyone so mad?" Rose asked.

The adults looked at each other. They had been friends long enough that they could communicate wordlessly. They needed to tell the children the whole story of Voldemort and his most dedicated lieutenant. Hermione knew it was time, but still wanted to protect her babies from the travesty that had been her childhood.

* * *

Their group of friends had left for the night and Draco closed the front door, wrapping his arm around Hermione's waist. Ever since they had left the dining room to find their son stunned he hadn't left her side or let the children out of his sights.

"Merlin." Draco muttered.

"I know. I can't believe Scorpius and Rose would do that. Have we failed them by not teaching them about the war?" Hermione asked. When they discussed having kids, she and Draco had decided that, while the children needed to know about the war, they didn't want them to know specifics. They had told them that a bad man had attacked a lot of innocent people, but nothing more. They didn't know of their parent's roles on either side of the war, or the horrors that had taken place in this very house.

"I don't know." Draco sighed. "I thought we were protecting them but maybe we should have instilled a little more fear into them."

"Starting tomorrow, we will talk to them." Hermione told him. They had given the children a brief lecture on why it wasn't funny to pretend to be Voldemort of Bellatrix, but had decided that each family should talk to their children individually. Ron had insisted on talking to all of them on why kissing was bad and why his daughters shouldn't do it. Ever.

"Tonight, I need to hold you. Let's go to bed, love." Draco pulled her towards the stairs.

"Well, I think we won the award for the most horrifying thing to happen at Christmas dinner."

"The most horrifying thing is Voldedmort's laugh at your Christmas Feast, and him being alive, actually." Draco said in a low whisper.

"I am sorry you had to live here with him, Draco." Hermione said as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. "Let's go make some better memories in bed."

* * *

Thank you **Mamapotterhead2492** for her beta work

In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the DFW_Holiday_Fest_2019collection.

Prompt: The most horrifying thing is Voldemort's laugh at your Christmas Feast.

**After his death.**


End file.
